Page 97 of Heartless Enemy

Everyone was wearing metal armor, mostly underneath their clothes, but Levi was something else. He looked like a fucking demon from hell. Sharp shoulder plates rested atop his broad shoulders, as they usually did, but now they had been joined by armor across his chest and back as well. Thick metal plates formed overlapping protection across his torso and neck. And on his head was a helmet crowned with spikes, making it look like a gruesome crown. All of it was incredibly well crafted. Perfect for the King of Metal.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I think some of my ribs are broken,” I pressed out, and then coughed. It sent a spike of pain through my side, which in turn made my head spin.Yep, definitely broken. “And I think I might have a concussion.”

Before Levi could reply, White reappeared on the grass a short distance away. The moment his feet touched the ground, Chris and Tyler sent a combined attack of wind and lightning at him while Levi hurled a metal sheet towards his neck.

His eyes went wide, and he worldwalked away again.

The attacks slammed into the ranks of white boots who had been standing behind him. They screamed as they were tossed back by the gust of wind. And some of them crumbled down on the ground, dead, as Tyler and Levi’s attacks struck them. Neither of the dark mages so much as blinked. In fact, all three of them just stared at the constables with fury and disgust twisting their features. Maybe they were as bitter as I was that the white boots had done nothing to help me.

The worldwalker materialized even farther away this time. His giant hammer was a puddle on the ground, and he was now faced with two other dark mages, plus the King of Metal himself, in addition to me. Even from this distance, I could see him grind his teeth in anger.

Levi and his men just shot vicious attacks at him, forcing him to worldwalk away again.

And this time, he didn’t reappear.

“You need to get back,” I said before gritting my teeth and pushing to my feet. “You need to direct the battle, otherwise—”

“You’re going straight to Gemma,” Levi interrupted, his voice still laced with fury. Gently placing his hands on me, he helped me into a standing position. “Let’s go.”

I tried to pull away from him, but it only made my head spin and my vision swim. “Did you hear me? Your people need you. If you don’t take charge of the battle, your empire—”

His hand shot out, grabbing the bottom of my helmet and holding my head steady, as he fixed me with a commanding stare. “My empire means nothing if you’re not in it.”

I think I might have gasped.

“Do you understand me?” he pressed. “I would trade anything, burn everything I have built to the ground, to save you.”

My heart pounded in my chest. And as I stared back at Levi with stunned eyes, I realized that he meant every word of it.

“So I will take you to Gemma right now, so that she can heal you,” he finished.

I smiled, even though he could only see part of it through the visor. Then I reached up and placed my hand on his forearm, giving it a squeeze. All around us, magic flashed and crackled.

“I will go to Gemma alone,” I said. Before he could protest, I pressed on, “Right now. I swear that I will go to her right now. If you go back and lead your people.”

“Didn’t I just tell you—”

“Remember what I said about trusting me instead of trying to do everything on your own?”

He ground his teeth. Oh, he remembered. I’d shot a wind blast at him and then put a sword to his throat when I informed him that it was time to stop keeping me in the dark.

“We need to force White to call a ceasefire,” I continued. “Otherwise, everything we have been through these past months will mean nothing. So go back and lead your army.”

It looked like he wanted to argue, but then he forced out a controlled breath. “IfI agree to this, you will stay right next to me for the rest of the battle afterwards. Not with these spineless white boots.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

I raised an arm to point back towards his army, the motion unfortunately making me wince and ruining some of my commanding air. “Get going.”

He drew his hand over my shoulder and then down my arm before giving my hand a quick squeeze.

“Troublesome, infuriating, stubborn—” he muttered as he turned around and stalked back towards his position at the head of the army.

“Arrogant, domineering asshole,” I finished for him.